The elder Lobo served as Honduras' president from 2010 to 2014. Sentencing for his 44-year-old son was set for Sept. 15.

Lobo was brought to the United States last May to face an indictment charging him with conspiring with others from 2009 to 2014 to smuggle over 5 kilograms of cocaine into the United States. He pleaded to a single conspiracy count that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life.

Defense attorney Manuel Retureta (man-WEHL' reh-tuhr-EHT'-uh) said outside court that his client was accepting responsibility for his "grave misstep." Lobo remains in custody.